By Borislava Panayotova 

   With college right over the horizon, senior Julia Cady received the Leadership Scholarship and she will be attending Arizona State University in the fall while studying Family and Human Development.

   The Leadership Scholarship Program, or LSP, is a prestigious program that accepts 25 students a year. Each high school can only send in one candidate per year. Students are accepted because they have shown leadership qualities throughout high school. The program offers a four-year scholarship with options to take extra classes on leadership and interact with mentors to grow in their skills. 

   Julia says the application process is “not easy and (is) extensive.” There are two portions of it: essays and interviews. The interview lasts for two hours and covers a variety of different exercises. Julia says this process “had small group activities, a one-on-one interview, mingling, and more.” Julia’s favorite part of this process was “talking to the current LSP members and their experiences.”

   Her advice for students nominated is to be confident. She says, “I never thought I would qualify for this prestigious award, but if you put yourself out there and work hard, you never know what you’ll be able to accomplish.”